| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| Polity | The Seshat Polity ID |
| Year(s) | The years for which we have the data. [negative = BCE] |
| Tag | [Evidenced, Disputed, Suspected, Inferred, Unknown] |
| Verified | A Seshat Expert has approved this piece of data. |
| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| full_time_bureaucrat | The absence or presence of full time bureaucrat for a polity. |
| # | Polity | Year(s) | Full Time Bureaucrat | Description | Edit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 471 |
(Qatabanian Commonwealth) |
Full Year Range of Qatabanian Commonwealth is assumed. [-450, -111] |
present |
None | |
| 473 |
(Five Dynasties Period) |
Full Year Range of Five Dynasties Period is assumed. [906, 970] |
present |
None | |
| 474 |
(Chandra Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Chandra Dynasty is assumed. [900, 1050] |
present |
Increasingly, government officers were paid by being assigned to lands which they could manage and earn revenue from, rather than in cash, and thus became part of the samanta class. However, hereditary chiefs “gradually assumed many of the functions of government. They not only assessed and collected land revenue, but also assumed more and more administrative powers, such as the right of awarding punishments and exacting fines on their own, which earlier were generally considered royal privileges. They assumed the right to sublet their land to their followers without the prior permission of the ruler, thus increasing the number of people who drew sustenance from land without working on it themselves.” [Chandra 2007] | |
| 475 |
(Qin Empire) |
Full Year Range of Qin Empire is assumed. [-338, -207] |
present |
Non-aristocratic officials in non-hereditary positions. [Kerr 2013, p. 33] | |
| 476 |
(Eastern Zhou) |
Full Year Range of Eastern Zhou is assumed. [-475, -256] |
present |
"Around 445 BC, Wei started the new wave of self-strengthening reforms by systematizing preexisting practices and introducing innovative institutions." [Hui 2005, p. 85] "In short, during Qin's early ascendance, all other great powers introduced various elements of self-strengthening reforms such as the mass army, national taxation, household registration, and hierarchical administration." [Hui 2005, p. 86] | |
| 477 |
(Portuguese Empire - Early Modern) |
Full Year Range of Portuguese Empire - Early Modern is assumed. [1640, 1806] |
present |
Referring to the imperial period generally: "much of the business of empire and the structure of government had come irretrievably into the hands of the professional bureaucrats." [Schwartz 1970] | |
| 478 |
(Bito Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Bito Dynasty is assumed. [1700, 1894] |
absent |
Inferred from the fact that full-time specialised bureaucracy does not seem to have emerged in the broader Great Lakes region prior to the colonial era. For example, in Nkore, "The royal court served as a judicial and political center, but not as a bureaucratic focal point. The Mugabe's chief minister, the Enganzi, was not a prime minister in the usual sense of leader of government business. He was merely the King's favorite. Neither was there a cabinet nor governmental bureaux [...]. No distinction between the royal and state treasury was made and the heads of local administrative units were not required to attend court or reside at the capital as in Buganda, for instance." [Steinhart 1978, p. 144] In Rwanda: "In this sort of government, administration was not yet institutionalized." [Vansina 2004, p. 63] In Burundi, the king seemingly entrusted administration mostly to close relatives and local chiefs: "Ntare relied on his sons as administrators: he was strong enough to set up his sons, but not strong enough to incorporate these regions fully within central control. [...] During the late nineteenth century, under the reign of Mwezi Gisabo, a four-tiered system of administration emerged: a central area around Muramvya under the control of the king; an area under the administration of his sons or brothers most closely allied to the king; a broad swath further east and south administered by Batare chiefs, the descendants of Ntare; and another zone, covering the western and northwestern areas of the country, under the administration of others, not Baganwa (in fact, they were mostly Hutu authorities). [...] Administrative authorities in the east and south- east, often Batare (descendants of Ntare Rugamba), simply retained their administrative autonomy while acknowledging nominal central court ritual hegemony. Those in the northeast more characteristically undertook open revolt, often by those who sought to overthrow Mwezi." [Newbury 2001, pp. 283-284] Moreover, it is curious that, despite the wealth of literature available on this polity, so far we have been unable to find mentions of a bureaucracy, which strongly suggests (without outright confirming) that it was simply not present at this time. | |
| 479 |
(Early East Africa Iron Age) |
Full Year Range of Early East Africa Iron Age is assumed. [200, 499] |
absent |
EMPTY_COMMENT | |
| 480 |
(Early East Africa Iron Age) |
Full Year Range of Early East Africa Iron Age is assumed. [200, 499] |
absent |
Likely no centralisation, and therefore also no bureaucracy; dispersed network of homesteads instead. "[A]rchaeology[...] suggests these early communities probably consisted of dispersed networks of homesteads, rather than centralised societies (Reid 1994/5; Van Grunderbeek et al. 1983)." [Ashley 2010, p. 146] |